The effect of stress on your health and ways to manage it.
Stress is a part of our ever day lives. Stress is both a physical and psychological response to events in life that disturbs your equilibrium. Anytime you are presented with a situation that compels you to make adjustments, you are responding to stress. Causes of stress are numerous and subject to individual affect. Something that may be considered stressful for one individual may not be construed as stressful for another. Common stressors are attributed to frustrations, conflicts, or pressures.
Stress can affect your mind, body, and your behavior. The effects of stress on your health can be potentially harmful to both your physical and mental health. The effects of stress can substantially disrupt your life. Symptoms of stress can include:
•Moodiness/hypersensitivity and irritability
•Restlessness, anxiety, resentment
•Anger and depression
•Memory problems and difficulty concentrating
•Difficulty making decisions
•Poor judgement, repetitive/racing thoughts, loss of objectivity
•Feelings of being overwhelmed and negativity, apaty
•Headaches, muscle tension/pain, chest pains
•Digestive problems
•Sleep disturbances, fatigue
•Skin problems
•High blood pressure, weight gain/loss
How you respond to stress will determine the extent of the effects you will suffer. Prolonged or chronic stress will have a detrimental effect on your health. Stress is considered a contributing factor in physical aging. Studies have found stress can accelerate aging, causing your body to become physically up to ten years older than your chronological age. It is also associated with cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, certain cancers, and type 2 diabetes. And stress can lead to depression.
It is extremely important to learn to deal constructively with stress. Experts suggest you begin by identifying the cause of your stress. Once you define the cause of your stress, you can develop a plan of action to deal with the cause. Putting the stressor in perspective and developing a plan to manage the stressor should relieve some of your anxiety. Monitoring your mood can also be helpful. If you take time to assess your frame of mind and the cause of any negative feelings you are experiencing, you can analyze the situation and determine the actual seriousness of what you are facing. By evaluating your situation and placing your mood in perspective, you may find that the situation is not as serious or as difficult as you first thought. Remember that every situation has a solution. You just have to find it.
Make time for yourself by doing something you find relaxing or comforting. You should set aside time, no matter how busy your life, at least two to three days a week. It will help refresh you and allow you to deal constructively with situations that may be stressful. Spend time with a friend, exercise (a great stress reliever), escape in a book, or just sit still. Life, and the stressor, will still be there afterwards. But you will have given yourself space and time away from the problem and should be able to view the problem with new perspective.